TFSI

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Audi TT Roadster 1.8 TFSI – Fun In The Sun

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How much you like the TT Roadster may well depend on how you value the badge on the boot. I can’t say the Roadster is that much better than a Mazda- MX-5 but Audi is premium brand – and that means a great deal to many people when making their buying choice.

The TT is fighting its corner against stiff opposition, from the likes of the BMW Z4 and more expensive Porsche Boxster too. Personally, I prefer the look of the BMW and Porsche, simply because the TT is starting to look a little dated these days.

Otherwise, the Audi is a fine handling car that brings the joy of open top motoring down to a reasonably affordable level. The cabin is well screwed together and easy on the eye – apart from the grey leather in our test car! – and the boot is a decent size too.

Z4 owners would say it doesn’t have the added security of a tin folding roof, Porsche drivers would point out the TT is nowhere near as pretty. Truth is, it will come down to personal taste because all three cars, plus the cheaper MX-5, are great fun and a joy to have on the driveway.

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Audi TT Roadster 1.8 TFSI – Give Me More Power

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I’ve come to the conclusion that 158bhp just isn’t enough in the Audi TT Roadster. The strong fuel economy in the entry-level model will be a sound trade off for some people but this 1.8 car just needs some extra grunt to set my pulse racing.

There are several larger engined models to go for, of course, including a TDI. The 208bhp 2.0 petrol would be tempting but the 270bhp TTS top choice. There’s a 335bhp TT RS too but that almost sounds too much!

All versions have a standard six-speed gearbox  and most have the option of the brilliant S tronic automatic as well.

The Roadster certainly needs more power than 158bhp if I’m going to start making comparisons with a Porsche Boxster, rather than a Mazda MX-5…

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Audi TT 1.8 TFSI Cabriolet – Geoff Capes Need Not Apply…

AU_078_sI’m not sure why God created the Midlands. He obviously wasn’t a petrol head because the roads are terrible – especially if you are travelling across country, rather than to the north, or south.

The whole A-road network around Birmingham seems to consist of A-roads choked up with heavy goods vehicles, chugging along at 50mph, or oversize tractors which seem to have become the new caravan. Awful.

I’m just returned from a six hour slog to interview Geoff Capes, a former Commonwealth gold medallist and the World’s Strongest Man, twice. Geoff is now 27-stone and breeds budgies (it’s true) but he once appeared in a Volkswagen Polo commercial, lifting the supermini off the ground. He split ten pairs of trousers in the process.

Geoff now drives a Discovery and there’s no doubt he would have tossed the Audi TT to one side if I had blocked him in on the driveway. The TT isn’t a Geoff Capes sort of car but it’s roomy enough for a pipsqueak like me. Plus the folding soft top means the roof mechanism doesn’t eat into the boot space.

Size isn’t everything and the TT’s small cabin is perfect in every other way. Large blokes need not apply.